Eats Blog

What to make this weekend: couscous royal

The November issue of FDLuxe is online, and what a treat for the eyes and appetite: It’s all about entertaining. I did something a little different than the usual for my Dish column — the editors asked me if I would cook, so I prepared something I love to make for friends this time of year: a giant Moroccan couscous royal. It’s an ideal dish for a dinner party, as you can make the big chicken, lamb and vegetable stew and steam the couscous grains almost entirely in advance, then do the final couscous steaming and grill merguez (lamb sausages) at the last minute. It’s also something I like to cook at home because you don’t find it in any restaurants (that I know of — if it exists, please let me know!) in or around Dallas. If steaming couscous two or three times sounds too involved, just prepare the grains the instant way, and they’re ready in all of five minutes. The stew takes two or three hours, but there’s not a whole lot of preparation involved — unless you make your own harissa, which I think is totally worth the effort, and it keeps in the fridge for months.

I served the couscous with a couple of salads from Paula Wolfert’s wonderful book The Food of Morocco, and for dessert I made Wolfert’s poached pears with prunes, which makes a light and lovely ending. The recipes for the couscous, harissa and poached pears are linked to the story. Manny Rodriguez‘s photographs are absolutely stunning.